In a few days I should be
able to publish blog notes more often I hope. Meanwhile I was able to
finish one long overdue 3Wb element, started week ago. It is a second -
and last - unit of gaesatae. I think they are amongst the worst 15 mm
elements I painted so far to be honest. It is partly due to lack of
afflatus (is it right word?), partly due to miniatures. They sculpt is
deep and crisp but muscles are more of fantasy type then being
reflection of real anatomy. There are some positives though - one of the
miniatures bears torque - popular celtic and gallic personal
adornment, neckring or bracelet - made from precious metal. This is the
first Corvus Belli miniature where I can see it clearly sculpted. It is
near invisible but I know that it is there;) Since I had only three more
naked fanatics miniatures and two of them were of relaxed pose, I
decided to add one miniature from "Victory and death" blister pack, with
another static, naked miniature, holding head of the fallen enemy. This
warrior just put his shield and spear on the ground (added to bring him
on par with his mates) to free hands to chop off head from his
opponent. Slightly red tinted blade of the sword is the final touch. I
have six 3WB ready from eight total in II/11 army. Last two elements of
this kind, being painted now, are swordsmen.

Quite a few days since last entry on my blog - unfortunately I have had a lot of urgent work to do in my company. There were only few hours in the whole week I could spare to paint.

In the Corvus Belli ready made DBA II/11 army deal there are few missing things I think. There isn't any miniature with severed opponent's head, there is complete lack of naked warriors, young warriors with javelins are missing too. It's a bit strange as all of such miniatures are in CB catalogue. I decided to buy these miniatures on my own, to add some flavour to my growing gallic army. I decided against buying young warriors as I have plenty of javelinmen now, but I bought three another blisters. "Naked fantatics", "Victory and death" and additional foot command group with miniatures more interesting then ones I already have. "Victory and death" blister pack contains miniatures with severed heads and some casualties, I will use them to make some bases more interesting.

I painted one 3Wb element of naked warriors first. They represent Gaesatae, free-roaming elite warriors fightning naked except shield and helmet. Another element of Gaesatae, in more relaxed poses, is in the works.

Mexican bandids posse is growing up. Second "wanted dead or alive" poster was issued for dangerous gunslinger. Miniature resembles a little some western heroes played by Clint Eastwood, especially from my all time favourite western "The outlaw Josey Wales". It is not exactly the same but it has the same "feeling". Third Mexican bandido from Artizan Design blister will be published here in a couple of days.

Fourth 3WB element for Gallic army - javelinmen. Sources indicates that as javelinmen fought young, unproven warriors, Corvus Belli miniatures have the same look as swordsmen. Well, I'm pretty sure that in the chaos of actual fightning one grabbed any weapon he could lay his hands on. I won't complain especially that painting this group was a true pleasure. As I want to practice my skill a little bit before painting foot command element for this army, I experimented a little painting clothes. One warrior has stripped trousers and tunic, second has trousers with diamond checkered pattern, last one has trousers painted with yet another squared pattern. As with earlier miniatures by CB I like some small details - they are hardly visible on the table but they add a nice touch of realism - one warrior's foot is slightly twisted and off the ground, javelin seems to fly from his hand in mere second... Another warrior takes carefully aim... Nice, realistic clothes' creases help in painting too.

Eight elements of the same kind are tedious to work with, fortunately three of them are ready by now, fourth is in final stages of painting. I was able to chose miniatures of entirely different poses so far, it makes whole army much more natural looking. This element is painted in darker colors then Macedonians and Thracians, contrast is much more visible. All three miniatures are cast in relatively rare pose - with mould line running via chest and back, and not on the outline of the miniature. Thanks to it miniatures look like they were truly running.

This time Gauls armed with traditional weapons of theirs - swords. They were famous in whole ancient world as a swordsmen. Blades were forged from iron of such high quality, that it was almost a steel. Unfortunately some of the gaulian swords were cheaply made. Greek historian Polybus writes that "... they are effective only on first blow, thereafter they are blunt, and bend so that if warrior has no time to wedge it against the ground and straighten it with his foot, the second blow is quite ineffective". Although iron was a high quality, it seems forging was inferior. Miniatures were a joy to paint. There is only one thing I don't like in Corvus Belli figures - unproportional, flat and wide heads. If not that detail I wouldn't have any reservations. Great poses, many little details, both on clothes and anatomic, make these miniatures true gem.

I changed my painting style a little for this group, they are much darker. I know that they will look bad on the tabletop but I really like how do they look now.

I made some changes to the bases too. Rocks are made from cat litter. It's dissolves during gluing and painting making convicting limestone rocks. Additionally, between patches of static grass and small "bushes" made from Gale Force 9 clump foliage, there is a ready made high grass tuft made by The Army Painter. It looks great I think.

And a little curio. One of the miniatures, on the left side of the base, has two swords. One in hand, second in scabbard. Sculptor forgot to remove handle from the scabbard I think and it is very visible on the miniature.

15th issue of "Kolekcja wozów bojowych" will cover construction and war operations of German heavy tank destroyer Sd.Kfz. 164 Hornisse/Nashorn. Diecast 1:72 model of this vehicle will be added to the magazine.

First of the eight elements of Gallic 3Wb. Corvus Belli miniatures have many different poses, unfortunately most of them is quite similar. I don't really like casting javelins together with a warrior. Miniatures are really detailed, there is a lot of small details, like belts' buckles, etc. Poses are really nice too - sculptor thought about many small but important details, like feet bend correctly, correctly shaped folds on clothes, etc. They look convincing, like stopped in the middle of the move. I'm a little scared by sheer number of warbands in this army, fortunately miniatures are varied. Shields are nice too, they paints well and give color to the whole element.

First unit of II/11 Gallic army - and the only 2Ps element at the same time. Colors are a little more vibrant then in Thracian units. One of the warriors get trousers with characteristic pattern, resembling Scottish tartan a little. Corvus Belli's miniatures are a little smaller then Xyston's but they are highly detailed too. Details are just a little less visible as they are more delicate and "in scale" then in Xyston's. Especially faces and hands are very delicate. Unfortunately it makes them hard to paint and they are not really visible. Anyway painting was a pleaser. One thing bad was the amount of flash around miniatures but mould lines were almost non existent at least.

I used ready made bases for the first time. They are made from 2 mm mdf. They look all right I think, edges are hardened with superglue and later smoothened. They won't warp I hope as my previously used 1 mm plastic bases. Another advantage is that I don't have to cut them off on individual basis;)

I really wanted to paint (or to paint and play) something from Wild West for a few months. Well, finally here it is. Mexican bandid from Artizan Designs. I don't know what kind of posse I will make yet but this miniature seems good choice for at least few options. Figure is really nice, with clean cast, no mould lines so painting was a real pleasure. I wanted to add some geometrical patterns to the poncho first but I liked rich red of it so much that I left it unadorned. I suck at freehand besides that and I really didn't want to spoil this fine miniature. So here it is, mexican bandido in all his glory, two more are waiting theirs turn. What will be mine posse of choice? US cavalry? Or Indians. Or something entirely different... Honestly, I don't know yet.

Five T-64 tanks by GHQ, I painted them out of curiosity, it was my first contact with 6 mm (1:285) scale. They are very detailed, especially considering how small they really are. Color scheme is very simple, russian green, as I want to build eventually some soviet unit from the 80 - so green, green and one more time green. Tanks are painted with airbrush, first highlight is airbrushed too. Then was and gentle drybrush with progressively lighter green tones, by brush this time of course. Then splashes of "mud and rust" and finito. Bases are metal bolt pads 3 cm in diameter. Models are not permamently glued onto them - I used small magnets to hold them in place. I can take them off and put on some other base more suitable for some other theatre of war or I can use tanks without bases at all. I tried to make rotating turrets but theirs height is so small that I was unable to properly drill into them - so they are glued on unfortunately. I like these models a lot - to such a degree that I seriously consider painting few WW2 models...

Thracian army in all it's glory. Miniatures by Xyston, spears and javelins from plastic sprue. Painting based mostly on Men at Arms 360 by Osprey (The Thracians 700BC-46AD). All options army (4x2LH can be exchanged for 3x3Ax). Painting was described in blog entries, I won't repeat boring details. Unfortunately one design of the foot soldiers has disfigured face. It is clearly visible on most miniatures so I think production mould is worn out. Well, only the camp left and I can play...

It's finished. Thracian army is ready. I'm tired a little by almost exactly the same units and color palette chosen by myself, based on toned down, realistic, natural colors. I will go a little on the wild side with Gauls, will use much more bright colors . Making photographs for an entry for Thracian army (will be published tomorrow) I noticed, unfortunately, that I will have to make another bases for them. A lot of elements' bases are warped. Ordered ready made bases are still missing. It is third week already and I'm getting a little upset because of that.

Resting a little bit from painting of ancient warriors, I'm painting this little beauty. I have to say that I like these models a lot. Here it is, on "in work" photo, T-64B of GHQ in 1:285 (6mm) scale).